She wasn't
surprised to see the people everywhere, crowding around. She was surprised,
however, to feel a hand on her shoulder. She spun around abruptly, facing the
person. She recognized who it was immediately.

"Ayane!
What are you doing here?" she exclaimed, recoiling in shock, glaring at her
half sister maliciously. "Trying to stir up more trouble?" She flicked her
orange ponytail over her shoulder in disdain. "You do that well enough without
trying. Don't tell me you came here to fight,"

The
lavender-haired girl glared back in response to her statement, staring her in
the eyes, they were the same height, so it wasn't that difficult. "To get my
revenge, sis. This is for all those
times when you always told me that I wouldn't reach the same level of skill as
you, Kasumi," Her brown eyes flashed dangerously as she said the word Kasumi, spitting out the word as though
it burnt her tongue to say it. Kasumi raised her eyebrows.

"Don't
tell me that you're stupid enough to start a fight with all these witnesses.
You always had no sense…" Kasumi said, rolling her eyes.

"Are you
stupid?" Ayane hissed. "I'm entering the tournament as well. So I'll see you
there. But, here's a souvenir of our meeting," With that, she lashed out at
Kasumi, hitting her in the stomach, but the blow was inconspicuous, so the
nearby stranger wouldn't get suspicious. The young kunoichi doubled over,
trying to get her breath back, and Ayane used the advantage to kick her,
bringing her down to her knees. Suddenly, there was a whirl of leaves and a
person appeared next to them. Both girls looked up in shock, and stared up into
the emerald eyes of a handsome young ninja. He looked at them both before
sighing softly.

"A fight
before the battle has even begun. I'm sure you'll have enough time to continue
this when the tournament starts," he said, his tone quiet, polite, yet… cold at
the same time.

Kasumi was
about to say something along the lines of 'Mind your own business' when she
realized just who she was looking at.

"Hayabusa?
What are you doing here?" Kasumi asked, astonished. She was expecting some sort
of acknowledgement, but she got none. Just a look which was icy, but… seemed
deeper then she could see. She had known him since she was a child! Why was
there no recognition? It hadn't been this way the last time she had seen him,
in the previous tournament; he had spoken to her almost as like old times. Nothing
had changed… had it?

Ayane was
equally surprised. She had also known Hayabusa for a long time, admittedly not
as long as her sister, or more specifically half sister, but still quite a few
years. He was different from what she had remembered; he had matured, not just
mentally, obviously, Ayane thought, smiling to herself. The smile quickly
faded. What was going on?

"I have my
reasons," he said coolly. "Please avoid the fighting until you meet in the
arena. I can guarantee that you will have more then enough opportunities to
fight then," His icy green eyes suddenly flashed dangerously, making Kasumi
feel nervous in spite of herself.

"…Okay…"
Kasumi said uncertainly. Ayane made a face but said nothing, turning away from
both Hayabusa and Kasumi. She felt extremely uncomfortable around the young
ninja, though she didn't know why. It wasn't as though he was exactly nice or
anything, there was no reason to feel so perturbed. He was so cold towards her,
he had never been… overly friendly to her.

"Until
then," Hayabusa said, disappearing in a swirl of leaves. Both girls started as
one, looking at each other in confusion until Ayane broke the almost
peacefulness, glaring at her sister again.

"While
he's here, I won't lay a hand on you. I'm not that stupid, seeing as obviously
he has a thing for you…" she said,
smirking as a slight flush went over Kasumi's cheeks. She had known for a while
that although her thoughts were with Hayate as a caring sister would feel, yet she
had a slight crush on the enigmatic ninja. That was all well and good except
for the fact that Hayabusa already had a girlfriend, according to Kasumi
herself, anyway.

"Don't be
ridiculous," Kasumi said hotly, trying to squash her feelings. "I'm a kunoichi.
Love means nothing to me,"

With that,
she vanished in a breeze of sakura blossoms, leaving Ayane to her own thoughts.

The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.